Literacy

Yesterday I went to my daughter’s school to find out how it looks like during the Literacy Week.

Her teachers are serious about the event. Kids are encouraged to "Stop-Drop-Read" during the lunch recess, when they can visit the library and enjoy a story. My daughter was also eager to attend the Book Fair and learn to purchase books she wished. And it felt so good, you know.

To those who care about literacy, the scene of their kids ploughing through dozens of books rouses feelings not only of gratification but of ecstasy. It's a pity that I can't go to her school today when I am on call. Students will dress up as their favourite characters in a book, and bring that book along to school.

There are no firm rules for how to inspire children to take up reading as an enriching pastime, but I trust her school's way to make it happen. I don't know the way to assess my daughter's reading level, either. Difficult as it is, I prefer the reading proficiency test designed by Rafe Esquith's fifth-graders. The test consists of three questions and goes something like this:

Have you ever secretly read under your desk in school because the teacher was boring and you were dying to finish the book you were reading?

Have you ever been scolded for reading at the dinner table?

Have you ever read secretly under the covers after being told to go to bed?

My secret wish is that my daughter will pass this test, like her dad. Maybe, just maybe. One day.